


Stay

by yourviolentlackofvirtue



Category: DCU, Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, artemis is a little dead inside, jason got resurrected but he also got thrown into the wrong universe, jason was dead, one year post Endgame, wally is still dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 00:18:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6542686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourviolentlackofvirtue/pseuds/yourviolentlackofvirtue
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The four times Artemis leaves and the one time she doesn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stay

**Author's Note:**

> This was pretty much a crackship that I fell in love with really quickly, and this is a (sort of) crackfic that was born because of the lack of fics in general about them.

**i**

_‘Recognised: Artemis, B07.’_

“How many times do I have to ask for that to be changed?” Artemis asked almost as soon as she rematerialized in the Watchtower.

A quick glance around confirmed what she’d already expected, she was the last one to arrive – not all that surprising really considering she’d intentionally waited almost an hour before heading to the zeta tube after receiving Dick’s message. 

Considering his flair for the dramatic she’d just assumed his message to ‘get to the Watchtower ASAP, it’s urgent’ was his way of organising a meet up with the team, the lack of response to her question caught her attention though. It wasn’t just the team standing around, everyone was there – hell none of them had heard from Batman in about a week but even he was at the front of the room, quietly talking to Superman.

Almost like he could hear her thinking about him, he met her eyes.

“So glad you could join us.” His voice was flat but Artemis had spent enough time around him to know that tone meant he was pissed – maybe she shouldn’t have waited quite so long.

“Sorry.” She mumbled, somewhere between not quite meaning it and worrying about making him more annoyed.

She came to a stop next to M’Gann and reached out through the mind link to try and find out what was going on.

Artemis caught M’Gann’s shrug out of the corner of her eye, keeping her attention focused on Batman. He looked even less friendly than normal, his posture stiff and his movements lacking their usual grace. None of it sat well with Artemis and she could tell that a few other members of the team felt the same way.

“I realise it’s late, and I will try to keep this brief.” Batman started, his eyes sweeping over them all but lingering for just the slightest bit longer on Dick – something that didn’t go unnoticed by any of them.

She was waiting for him to say something else but he didn’t, instead he turned and nodded. A few moments later a tall boy stepped out of the shadows – Artemis might have made a joke about how typically Batman the move was if he didn’t look so familiar.

Besides the older members of the League, Dick was the only one that didn’t react. Next to her M’Gann gasped, Conner’s eyes went wide, and Bart just looked confused. Artemis barely even noticed that she’d taken a step forward until she felt Zatanna’s hand resting on her shoulder, something that wouldn’t have been possible if she had still been standing where she was before.

“Jason?” She wasn’t even sure she’d said it out loud until he looked up. The blue eyes that met hers were all too familiar, even though there was something about them that was off – something that wasn’t right.

It wasn’t just the eyes though, he was different from the last time she’d seen him, like he’d been when he – she couldn’t even think the goddamn word, not with him standing right there in front of her. He was taller, broader, his hair shaggier and even more unkempt which was really saying something because it had never been neat to begin with.

She couldn’t focus on what Batman was saying; too busy staring at a boy who’d died almost four years ago. She caught snippets though, something about the Lazarus pit, Talia al’ Ghul and an alternate universe or dimension or something along those lines.

And while she was glad that Jason wasn’t dead anymore, even if he wasn’t really their Jason, there was an ache in her chest that wouldn’t let up because of another team member. One that was still dead. One that wouldn’t be walking out of the shadows anytime soon. One that had kissed her for the first time maybe ten metres from where Jason was now standing.

She could feel M’Gann’s confusion sitting right up against her own chaotic thoughts as she turned back around and headed for the zeta tubes.

_‘Recognised: Artemis, B07.’_

 

**ii**

Artemis didn’t answer any of their calls for the next couple of weeks – M’Gann was the only one she actually felt bad about ignoring, she’d always had a soft spot for the martian but even her messages went to voicemail.

Zatanna showed up at her apartment around the two-week mark; Artemis hadn’t even known the other girl knew the address of her new place – she’d moved back to Gotham after losing Wally, she’d considered going back to live with her mum but it just hadn’t felt right.

“What can I do for you Zee?” She hadn’t meant to sound hostile but it had come out that way regardless.

“Oh nothing, I just didn’t think you’d open the door if I was one that was knocking.” Zatanna shot Artemis and apologetic smile and stepped to the side as Dick moved into the doorway.

“You’re probably right.” She got the door half closed before Zatanna spoke.

“Peek siht rood nepo.” Artemis glared at her but the other girl just shrugged. “Sorry to ambush you like that, but you really need to listen to him Artemis and you should probably talk alone so I’ll see you both later.”

When Zatanna had disappeared around the corner at the end of the hallway Dick walked right past her and sat down on her couch. Considering Zatanna’s spell Artemis was a little surprised when she was actually able to slam the door shut, but she was satisfied with the result none the less.

“I haven’t seen you in civvies in a while Dick,” She started, trying to avoid the topic she knew he was here to talk about or at the very least put it off for a couple more minutes. “It’s only been a couple of minutes but I think I’m already missing the skin tight costume.”

Dick, not at all put off or distracted by her obvious attempts at diversion, just continued to stare at her. Artemis crossed her arms and glared; if he wanted to talk then he could be the one to start the conversation.

“You’ve been dodging my calls.” He said finally.

“I’ve been dodging everyone’s calls Dick, don’t think you’re special.” Artemis had to look away because he wasn’t going to and the amount of eye contact was bordering on unsettling.

“He wants to talk to you ‘Mis.” His voice softened and she couldn’t tell if it was because he felt bad for Jason or for her.

“What?” She couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of her mouth. “Why the hell would he want to talk to me?”

“It was different where he’s from. He, uh – he didn’t say it in as many words but I think you’re the only one of us that he trusts.”

Artemis let out a rather ungraceful snort. “C’mon, you’ve got to admit that’s ironic considering what happened to our Jason.”

Dick looked like he was torn between being worried about her and being disappointed. “He is our Jason now, and he wants to talk to you.”

She didn’t say anything but the silence and her blank stare did a sufficient job of letting him know the feeling wasn’t mutual. Something in his face shifted and Artemis barely had the time to think about what that could mean before he started talking again.

“We both know this isn’t about Jason.” He paused and Artemis was getting ready to protest but his words stopped her in her tracks. “This is about Wally. You’re mad because someone came back from the dead but it wasn’t the person you wanted it to be.”

Her heart skipped a beat and then picked up at double the speed. She didn’t say a word as she turned to grab her keys off the counter and headed for the door.

“While this has been great I’m done with this conversation. You can let yourself out Dick.”

And just like that she left him sitting in her apartment while she walked aimlessly out of her building.

She refused to think of it as running away.

 

**iii**

Artemis knew she shouldn’t have been patrolling on her own.

It wasn’t that she was incapable of it, but Ollie had always taught her to have back up – especially when she was going out in Gotham. She’d been alone though, and she was doing just fine. In fact she hadn’t had to intervene at all up to that point – most of her time had been spent crouching on rooftops and watching the people on the streets scurrying around and going about their nightly doings.

She wasn’t really all that in the mood to be on patrol anyway, she was tired and a little sore from a recent mission. She figured it would be a good idea to get out of her apartment though because the next time Dick showed up she’d probably end up punching him in his irritatingly persistent face.

Artemis had refused his requests every time he’d asked but it didn’t seem that he’d be letting up anytime soon, which was kind of funny considering she’d heard rumours that Jason had gone rouge and wouldn’t talk to any of them anyway.

She was on her feet and running as soon as she heard the gunshots, moving across the rooftops lithely and finding the source in a few short minutes. She remained in the shadows while trying to assess the situation and work out her best plan of attack but stopped abruptly when she figured out what was actually going on.

Yes, there was a bunch of thugs – drug runners if Artemis had had to guess but she had no way to be sure from her spot on the rooftop – she counted ten of them but that wasn’t the strange part of the situation. In the middle of all the chaos was another guy trying to fight off all the others.

There was something familiar about the way he was fighting and it only took her a few seconds to realise he was fighting like one of the Bats.

It obviously wasn’t Batman himself, he was too tall to be Tim, and Dick wouldn’t be caught dead fighting bad guys in Gotham wearing only jeans, a t-shirt, and a leather jacket.

Which only left Jason.

Her conclusion came at the same time as one of the men landed a low punch and she watched as Jason doubled over slightly. Artemis hadn’t wanted to talk to him but that didn’t mean she was going to walk away and leave him outnumbered in a fight.

She reached for her crossbow and fired a grappling hook arrow at the building across from her. The moment of distraction caused by the sound allowed her to swing down into the alley – she heard a satisfying crunching sound as her boot connected with the face of the guy who’d thrown the cheap shot before.

With her crossbow stowed she turned in time to land a kick to the stomach of the guy who’d been coming up beside her. Someone bumped into her back and she swung around, fist at the ready but Jason caught it before she could do any real damage.

He was wearing a red domino mask and she briefly recalled a conversation they’d had on a mission about how he thought the black ones were boring. It was only a half a second lapse but it was enough for a short guy with light hair to sweep her feet out from under her. She quickly threw her leg out to connect with his knees and she was back on her feet again before the other guy hit the ground.

“I gotta say, I miss the green.” He let out a short laugh but Artemis didn’t bother to respond, dealing with another guy before she heard a gun being cocked. 

Between them they’d taken out all of the thugs besides two and when Artemis noticed neither of them were holding a gun she turned to Jason. She managed to get her crossbow out just in time to fire a bolt that knocked the gun from his hand before he pulled the trigger.

The thugs took off as he turned to glare at her.

“What the hell is your problem?” His voice was so full of venom that if she hadn’t grown up hearing one just like it she probably would have shrunk away from the sound.

“Me? They were unarmed and you were going to shoot them. That’s not how we do things.” Artemis had collapsed her crossbow again and slipped it back into its pouch.

“The way you do things doesn’t work.” He called after her as she walked away. “My way does.”

 

**iv**

“What are you doing here, Artemis?” He asked, gun trained on her just like it had been from the moment she climbed through the window of one of his safe houses.

“It’s Tigress now, actually.” She shrugged, she’d grown up around assassins but having that gun pointed at her had still caused her heart rate to spike.

“I noticed.” He lowered the gun slightly and that what when she’d noticed the blood on the sleeve of his jacket. “Like I mentioned, I preferred the green.”

“I’m not that girl anymore, the costume didn’t feel right.” It was probably the most honest thing she’d ever said on the matter.

“I know the feeling.” He lowered the gun all the way and she took a deep breath for the first time since she’d gotten into the house. “You didn’t answer my question – what are you doing here?”

She took off her mask and hung it on one of the hooks on her belt before pointing to his arm. “I saw you at Gotham National earlier when I was with the team. You got shot and I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

One corner of his mouth turned up and Artemis couldn’t help but notice how much he looked like Dick when it did, she got the feeling that if she told him that he’d probably shoot her. 

“If I didn’t know any better I’d say that you cared.” She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and instead walked right up to him.

She gave him the sweetest smile she could muster before she grabbed hold of his arm, and pressed her thumb down where she’d seen the bullet hit him earlier. Jason hissed sharply and wrenched his arm away before glaring at her.

“I just don’t want you to die.” The words were almost involuntary, she’d meant them but she hadn’t really known it until she’d said it out loud.

“Been there, done that.” He smirked but Artemis hadn’t been amused.

“Me too.” She muttered as she pushed past him. “Where’s your first aid kit?”

She stopped in the middle of the living room and looked around to no avail. The place was falling apart and the only furniture was an old couch with a worn blanket thrown haphazardly over it.

“What makes you think I’ve got a first aid kit?” He folded his arms and Artemis thought that it was almost cute that he’d even try to pretend he didn’t have one stashed away like Batman taught him to do.

Well, it was what Batman had taught all of their Robin’s to do, she couldn’t be certain what he’d learned wherever he was from.

Artemis raised an eyebrow and he sighed before pointing to the kitchen. When she came back into the room, first aid kit in hand, he was sitting on the couch swigging from a bottle of vodka. She had to stop herself from scolding him and remind herself that he was actually older than her now and that he had just as much right to be drinking as she did.

She snatched the bottle out of his hand and took a long pull before sitting down next to him and opening up the kit. “Take your jacket off.” 

“Admit it, this was all just an elaborate ruse to get me out of my clothes, wasn’t it?” This time his smile was more boyish grin than smirk and Artemis had needed to look away because it reminded her too much of the fourteen year old boy she’d watched die.

Artemis didn’t say anything and instead poured vodka over the bullet wound – it was just a graze she’d noticed after she cleaned it up a little but it still needed stitches. He’d offered his lighter to sterilise the needle and she had apologised for the lack of painkillers before she got to work.

For the first couple of sutures they didn’t say anything – the only sounds were Artemis’ even breathing and quiet grunts of pain from Jason. 

“What did you mean before?” He asked through clenched teeth as he balled his other hand into a fist. “I was joking about having already died once before and you said you had too.”

Her jaw tightened and her hand stilled for a moment before she relaxed and put in the next suture.

“I just meant I’ve died a couple of times. Twice actually.” She let out a short laugh before shaking her head. “The first time was part of a training simulation, the second time was orchestrated so I could go undercover to take down Black Manta and the Light.”

“Which one was worse?” When she looked up he was already looking at her and she noticed for the first time that he’d taken off his mask.

“Uh, the first one.” She cleared her throat and looked down at his arm again. “Don’t get me wrong the second time wasn’t exactly fun, but at least I knew what I was getting myself into, it was all planned out. That first time, though, I had no idea – it felt so real. And then I was stuck in the simulation until everyone else was finished with it, but I couldn’t do anything it was just this blank, empty expanse and I really thought I was dead.”

When she tied off the last stitch he reached out and placed his hand over hers. She resisted the urge to pull away at the sudden and unexpected contact and took a few deep breaths before she looked up at him.

His eyes softened. “Maybe we’ve got more in common than I thought.”

It wasn’t a conscious decision, but she kissed him. Hard.

And it was enough that for a few moments she forgot about her bruised ribs, and she didn’t care that maybe he wasn’t a good guy anymore. It was enough that she could pretend she didn’t know that he was the first guy she’d gotten this close to, let alone kissed, since Wally.

But then he kissed her back and it was just as hungry and desperate, and she realised that two broken people couldn’t make a whole one no matter how hard they tried.

She pushed him away and climbed back out the window before he had a chance to ask what she was doing – and she was glad because she honestly wasn’t sure anymore.

 

**v**

Jason was the last person she expected to see sitting in the Watchtower infirmary when she got there.

The team had had a run in with a few of the remaining members of the Light and her dad had decided to be particularly brutal. He’d been able to tell that her head wasn’t completely in it and taken the chance to teach her a lesson. It had ended with Conner physically pulling her out of the fight and putting her back on the bio-ship. The whole ordeal had left her with a few nasty cuts and bruises along with a dislocated shoulder.

He looked up when she walked in but didn’t say anything, which Artemis was thankful for considering what had happened the last time they’d spoken.

They’d popped her shoulder back in on the way back so she just had to clean up the cuts and put some ice on the bruises. It had all seemed like an easy enough job until she realised she had to do it all with one arm because the other one was in a sling. 

She could feel Jason’s eyes tracking her movements and she did her best to try and ignore it, instead focusing her attention on trying to get the things she needed to disinfect and dress her wounds, and ultimately failing.

Her breath caught in her throat when Jason leaned over her and pulled them out of the cupboard she couldn’t quite reach – she’d forgotten how damn quiet all the bat brats could be when they wanted to be, not many other people could sneak up on her like that.

“C’mon, you cleaned me up last time – how about you let me return the favour?” His small smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and he sounded like he was worried if he spoke too loudly she’d run away again.

He nodded towards one of the cots and with a reluctant sigh she climbed up onto it.

Just like the last time they didn’t say anything while he was dabbing antiseptic onto the cuts in her face and arms – he did apologise though when she jerked away in pain while he was trying to clean up her bloody knuckles. When he handed her an ice pack for her shoulder she took the opportunity to look him over and that was when she’d noticed the slight strain to his movements.

“What happened to you?” She asked, not bothering to try and beat around the bush.

“This is what happens when I don’t use my guns.” He shrugged and sat back on the cot he’d been occupying when she came into the room. “Non-lethal force means that the bad guy have more chances to get close to me.”

She tried not to smile at the fact that he hadn’t been shooting his way out of bad situations and that he’d come to the Watchtower for help.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Look, it was just a kiss I don’t know what – ” She tried to stop him because she’d honestly rather talk about anything else, she didn’t really know what to say about the whole thing just yet.

“That’s not what I was getting at, but good to know you’ve been thinking about it too.” He smirked and Artemis really wanted to punch him in his stupid, handsome face. “Why wouldn’t you talk to me when I first came back?”

Artemis almost wished they could go back to talking about the kiss. She didn’t know what to say at first, she just kept opening her mouth but nothing came out and everything that almost did was a lie anyway.

“I was angry,” She admitted finally, looking down at her hands as she continued. “And I felt guilty and it just seemed so much easier to avoid talking to you altogether than it did to have to deal with all of that and then dump it on you too.”

“Those were not the two emotions I was expecting.” He let out a short laugh and Artemis wasn’t sure if it made her feel better or worse. “Look, I get why you were angry – Dick told me all about Wally – but why did you feel guilty?”

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to tell him the truth but she did anyway – she’d kind of been an ass and he at least deserved to know why – she just hoped he wouldn’t hate her afterwards.

“When our Jason died,” She noticed him flinch but went on anyway. “He was on a mission with me and Wally, he was supposed to be looking out for him but something happened and Wally was trying to help me and that was when he – you – I don’t know, that’s when he got taken. Joker tortured him for days and then dropped him off in the middle of a mission. We got him back to the cave but there wasn’t anything anyone could do. I watched him die and I knew it was my fault.”

“Hey.” The word was harsh but his tone was soft and when Artemis looked up he was leaning towards her, determination clear on his face. “It wasn’t your fault, you hear me? Not you, not Wally, hell not even whoever sent you on the goddamn mission. It’s the Joker’s fault, okay? You need to stop blaming yourself.”

She wasn’t sure if it was his conviction or just because in a weird twisted way he was the one that had died and therefore he got to make the call, but his acceptance and then prompt dismissal of her confession made the weight she’d been carrying around on her chest for too long lighten a little.

A few minutes later Red tornado had come into the infirmary, he looked Artemis over and told her she was free to leave whenever she wanted.

She took a quick look at Jason, and then she decided to stay.


End file.
